HINDU hardliners attacked and set fire to the house of a former Indian overseas minister, police mentioned, within the newest incident of spiritual violence that critics say has been infected beneath prime minister Narendra Modi.
Salman Khurshid, a Muslim from the primary opposition Congress party, has written a book in which he mentioned the form of Hindu nationalism, that has flourished under Modi, to extremists like the Daesh.
Police mentioned a mob of around 20 individuals from a hardline native Hindu group massed exterior Khurshid’s home close to the northern metropolis of Nainital on Monday (15).
“They shouted slogans, threw stones, broke a number of home windows, ransacked (the entry) and set fireplace (to a door),” said state police chief Jagdish Chandra.
The group had set fire to an effigy of Khurshid, burnt photographs and threatened the daughter-in-law of the caretaker with a gun.
Khurshid, who served as overseas minister from 2012-14, was away at the time of the incident. He, however, posted pictures of the aftermath of the assault on social media.
“Disgrace is simply too ineffective a phrase,” Khurshid, 68, mentioned on social media.
“I hoped to open these doorways to my buddies who’ve left this calling card. Am I nonetheless mistaken to say this can’t be Hinduism,” he added.
Activists say that non-secular minorities in Hindu-majority India have confronted elevated ranges of discrimination and violence since Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came into power in 2014.
In 2020, the US Fee on Worldwide Spiritual Freedom listed India as a “nation of explicit concern” for the first time since 2004.
Modi’s partymen reject having a radical “Hindutva” agenda and insist that individuals of all religions have equal rights.
state, the place the newest incident passed off, seems to be a selected hotspot.
Last month, a mob of around 200 individuals reportedly attacked a Christian church in Uttarakhand.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has said that the assault on Khurshid’s house was “disgraceful”.
"This is disgraceful. @salman7khurshid is a statesman who has done India proud in international forums & always articulated a moderate, centrist, inclusive vision of the country domestically. The mounting levels of intolerance in our politics should be denounced by those in power," he wrote on Twitter.
Khurshid has been under the spotlight ever since the launch of his new book, ''Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times''.
Meanwhile, the BJP said Khurshid's remark has hurt the sentiments of Hindus and alleged that Congress is resorting to "communal politics" to corner Muslim votes.
Kulsuma Aktergetty images
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